Wednesday 5 July 2017

Soft Robotic Sleeve for Cardiac Assistance

Soft Robotic Sleeve Fitted Around the Heart
The growing field of soft robotics finds an application in cardiac assistance. Soft robotic devices safely interact with soft tissue and give assistance in cardiac function. These devices reduce the burden of heart disease, thus helping in even healing and recovery.

Need and Significance of the Research
This kind of research is significant at the moment because heart failure affects 41 million people worldwide. The treatment options for heart failure are ventricular assisting devices and heart transplants which may put the patients at the risks of blood clotting and stroke. Harvard University and Boston Children’s Hospital researchers have developed a customizable soft robot that can be placed around the heart and helps it beat, potentially opening new treatment options for people suffering from heart failure.

How Soft Robot Helps Heart Beat
This soft robotic sleeve is inspired by the human heart. The sleeve is made of thin silicone and has soft pneumatic actuators. The pneumatic actuators are similar to the outer layers of the human heart and it produces heart compression in synchronization with the heart beat. The sleeve is attached to the heart using a combination of a suction device, sutures, and a gel interface to help with friction between the device and the heart. The device is tethered to an external pump, which uses air to power the soft actuators. An advantage of this robot is that it does not come into contact with the blood. The robotic sleeve can be customized by tuning the pressure of actuators to assist in compression depending on the weakness of  the patient’s heart. 
Robotic Sleeve In Cardiac Assistance...

 It's Just A New Beginning....
More research needs to be done before the sleeve can be implanted in humans, but the research is an important first step toward an implantable soft robot that can augment organ function. A patent is applied and is commercialization opportunities are pursued actively by Harvard's Office of Technology Development. 
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